Rohit Sharma, captain of the Indian cricket squad, had a rehearsal session with his teammates in preparation for their first match against Ireland in the ICC T20 World Cup that will be held on June 5th in New York.
The games will cover West Indies and USA from 1st June to 29th June. On the first day of June, India’s qualifying round includes only one friendly fixture against Bangladesh at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York.
Some glimpses of training were shared on social media by Rohit Sharma which included physical exercises, camaraderie moments and strategic interaction with his players.
India’s progress in the competition will also rely heavily on how well he performs. Notably having made dynamic partnerships at the top of the order along Yashasvi Jaiswal or Virat Kohli, Sharma has an important role to play while ensuring commanding run rate as well as establishing a healthy scoreline when it is India’s turn to bat.
He remains fourth all-time highest run getter at T20 WC behind Virat Kohli (1202), Chris Gayle (1016) and Brendon McCullum (970)- Shikhar Dhawan (897) and Kane Williamson (777) are other active cricketers who have scored more than Rohit Sharma in T20 World Cups- Interestingly, only MS Dhoni (35) has played more T20 World Cup matches than Rohit Sharma who has featured in 32 till date- At present, no other batsman has hit more sixes than Rohit Sharma’s tally of 43 maximums- Only Chris Gayle (49) and Brendon McCullum (46) have hit more fours than him- David Warner is next on this list with a total of 60 sixes hit during various editions of ICC Men’s T20 World Cup since its inception back in 2007- Firstly, there are 15 other fielders who have taken same number of catches as MS Dhoni (32) in T20 World Cup history- The next most is still a long way away though with 22 caught behinds by Kamran Akmal making him the only wicket keeper to feature in more than 30 dismissals from T20 World Cups till date.
Moreover, his recent participation for Mumbai Indians during the Indian Premier League (IPL) was fruitless even though they reached rock bottom. In fourteen matches of this IPL season, Sharma managed to get hold of four hundred and seventeen runs at an average of 32.07 and a strike rate of 150.00 including one hundred and fifty with a highest score being not out on 105.
India’s advent into the T20 World Cup will be heralded by its match against Ireland after which it would lock horns with Pakistan on June 9th, in a greatly expected encounter. Furthermore, India will play USA on June 12th just before Canada three days later in their Group A fixtures.
Led by Rohit Sharma, the Indian cricket team is aiming to put an end to their ICC trophy draught. Since their last triumph at the ICC Champions Trophy back in 2013, India has made it through to finals or semifinals of major ICC tournaments including the ODI World Cup, ICC Test Championship final and T20 WC but failed to win any big tournament.
